To break into my new neighbours house *THREAD 2*

[Catsos]

Following on from my thread yesterday https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4881905-to-break-into-new-neighbours-house-serious-question-not-trolling

to update all of the lovely people who are trying to help me rescue my cat who has got himself stuck in an unoccupied house.

Updating very shortly

So how are you going to stop him breaking into other people’s houses in future? It’s going to get very expensive for you otherwise.

Anyone laughing at the OP needs to take a serious look at their sense of humour!!

So so glad your mog is safe and well OP. I think you should show the neighbours this post to see the trauma you’ve been through over the last couple of days!

Jesus Christ, it's a cat not a fucking elephant!!!!!!

Do you know how insurance policies work?! If your house burns to the ground, you're immensely grateful that you had it; but if you claim for things in the hundreds or maybe couple of thousands, you will pay several hundred as an excess and then pretty much end up paying the rest back in increased premiums before long.

If I were the home owners, I would realise that it wasn't malicious at all, and would be glad that the cat was safe; but I would also be heartbroken that my lovely home and brand new furnishings that I hadn't even moved into yet had been damaged by a cat in the ways that OP has detailed. There will also be things like cat hair everywhere, that they will find for ages - and which could cause behaviour/settling issues if they do have their own cat.

It sounds like the damage could easily run into several hundreds. I think they're fully entitled to expect like-for-like replacements of brand new things that the cat has damaged. People whose own cats cause damage may think it's cute and choose to live with it or patch up and make do, but that is not fair in any way when it's been done by an uninvited stranger's cat.

Just because cats are small, they can do a lot of damage - same as toddlers.

Cats roam because it's in their nature. It would be cruel to keep an outdoor cat inside. I would argue it's the owners at fault for not rectifying the dodgy cat flap, any number of cats could have gotten in. Maybe even a fox!

People always bitch about cats here for the same reason they moan about barking dogs and unruly toddlers - they are very entitled and don't believe they should share the planet with anyone who can possibly inconvenience them in any way. Very sad and selfish way to live.

Oh catch a grip! We once had a cat that went in open windows. I've no idea how many houses we went into; I just know he did at the next couple of houses up. Fortunately they're cat lovers too. We adopted him when his horrible owners moved house and abandoned him and so he was used to spending time outdoors.

I bet some of you would shit yourselves, but he came home several times with a nice juicy cooked chicken breast, and a pork chop once. Never found out where he got them.

It was a concern and a few years later, someone else's cat was poisoned. There are some cruel bastards around!

What the hell is going to run into hundreds - catch a grip!

I could clean the pee off the rug, right now, and you'd never know it had been peed on. £3.25 a bottle. Stop being so bloody dramatic!!

Oh I'm glad you've got your beautiful cat back! But now I'm wondering if you live near-ish to me and I've missed out on coming to watch you feed ham and crabsticks through a vent to your cat 🤣

Also, our cat once disappeared and she was found 5 weeks later in the garage of the house that backed on to us. She was skinny but she was okay and put the weight back on x

I don't think I could begin to cat proof my garden - it's big and has a lot of trees that overhang other gardens - it's just not practical for lost people. I also think it's cruel to keep cats indoors all the time - they need to roam. If my back door is open, I often get visits from other cats and occasionally one of the foxes tries to come in, but other cats don't deliberately cause damage - they're just looking for food. And no matter how much food you give some cats, they will still go begging for more.

But surely the OP's problem with her cat arose because of a very unusual set of circumstances? The house was empty, no-one knew the contact details for the new neighbours, and being a Sunday followed by bank holiday Monday, she was having trouble contacting anyone who could let the cat out. If this had happened almost any other day of the year, then the builders would have let him out the next morning or if the house was occupied, the owners would have shooed him out.

Some of us have brains, surprisingly, but many are choosing not to engage them, dear.

It’s about time there were controls over cat ownership with people like you around. Cats in gardens, ok, you can’t really stop them. But if someone hasn’t chosen to have a cat it’s horrendously unfair for a neighbour who knows their cat intrudes on other people’s property to not do something to contain it.

You won't even attempt to stop him straying into other people's homes? You'll be first to complain if something serious happens this time and he doesn't come back!

I have been so incredibly tempted to name-change and start up a new AIBU entitled

AIBU - Crabsticks

… I just bought a house in West Sussex which we are renovating

(so glad you got him back OP. I am sure your new neighbours will understand)

That's hilarious! 🤣🤣

What the hell is going to run into hundreds - catch a grip!

I could clean the pee off the rug, right now, and you'd never know it had been peed on. £3.25 a bottle. Stop being so bloody dramatic!!

I haven't been to survey the house myself, so I couldn't tell you; but you're really minimising how much damage a trapped cat can do. It's not even just the rug - although we don't know how damaged it was - but the floorboards, the walls, the paintwork. If there's any furniture there, then I'll bet the cat gave it a really good scratch as well, as cats are normally wont to do.

As I said, I'm not talking about the costs to patch it up and make do, I'm talking about a proper professional job to repair the damage and restore everything to its original condition.

Like when renters vacate a property in a real state and the landlord withholds some/all of their deposit to pay for professional cleaning, repainting, repairs etc. - they don't just say "No worries - I'll give up my weekend and pop over there to do it all myself." Even paint isn't cheap - and the whole wall(s) may need to be repainted, as it tends to look awful if you just dab over the bits with marks on at a later date.

The irresponsibility of cat owners never ceases to amaze me.

Keep your cat on your property.

I hope the rug is bloody expensive to clean, it will serve you right.

My cat survived 2 weeks locked in my neighbours shed. I can only imagine he ate spiders and bugs to survive?!

glad you got your cat back. Won’t be long till he’s up to more mischief!

I’m a cat owner. If I were your neighbor and you came to me after this incident and told me that you were implementing a plan to keep the cat contained and wanted to compensate me for damages, I would want to work with you to keep your costs low.

if instead, you come to me and tell me that your cat has a tendency to break in places and isn’t it funny he did it again. Can’t do a thing to stop him. Oh well. Then, I would be less inclined to treat this as a situation where I try to make restitution as pleasant for my neighbor as possible. Instead, I would want my house fixed completely and professionally.

Please don't put a beverage on top of your keyboard, that's an accident waiting to happen.

Cats are legally allowed to roam freely

It needs a polite note that starts with something like "I'm REALLY sorry, but my cat got into your house through your catflap and then couldn't get out till your builder very kindly freed him". Then go on to explain that you were really worried that it would be dangerous if he starved and to on to explain about the crab sticks and ham, and suggest they knock on your door as soon as they get back so you can clear up. Also confess to the damage and say that you will of course pay for any cleaning and repairs. Then say sorry again.

With any luck they'll take it well and this could be the start of a friendship. It's a hell of a way to get to know your new neighbours!

I think you made an error in your user name. Instead of 'cats are' I believe it should read 'I am a' - and before you get pedantic, yes you would need to remove the 's'at the end also.